Many European countries such as Greece and Italy are suffering heavily due to the Euro crisis. However, this is not the case for Germany who has taken the role of leader during the crisis. While many of the countries are suffering severe damage, Germany is suffering from a minor cold. This is seen in the fact that Germany's exports actually rose from .9 % to 2.7% in September. Their wages also are expected to increase by almost 5% this year. Finally their unemployment rate is to drop down to 6.9% this year as well.

Despite Germany's current position as a global economic power, it comes as no surprise to me that they are on a decline. The euro crisis is a huge problem that is going to effect every country involved regardless of economic status. What's going to be interesting to watch is how Merkel decides to handle her own country's economic withdraw as compared to the possible collapse of the entire euro zone. Many of her own citizens feel that her time is best spent improving Germany rather than worrying about the other 20-some nation states in the euro zone. Despite becoming a global leader during these tough times, her approval rates continue to fall, which is sad see because I think that she is a magnificent leader.

Germany is the powerhouse in Europe now and the only country that can help end the EU crisis. Germany has to be careful and be concerned about internal affairs since unemployment rates are rising and Merkels chance of re-election is declining. If the EU crashes and falls, Europe will go through a lot of troublesome problems.

There are only 7 billion people and counting on this planet, and world debt continues to run into infinity! governments are trying to solve the problem by adding more debt. Money is debt by definition so who is getting bailed out in the long term and who will pay of the debt and most importantly, how?. We are supposed to be the most intelligent species on earth!?! The animal kingdom would be laughing their heads off if they cared as their world is not in debt and they all respect the circle of life. Arrogance,ignorance and simple lack of respect for what really matters most(the survival and evolution of the human race)in the pursuit of money and it's perceived sense of purpose and savior will be our downfall. One gene separates monkeys from humans,yet they were smart enough not to even contemplate the thought of creating money to survive!

Germany has a heavy load that has been put on their shoulders. They are the largest and most powerful economy in Europe right now, meaning they have to help their fellow neighbors recover. However, the German citizens are not happy about having to pay taxes in order to bail out other countries. They are beginning to form a negative view of Angela and her political party because of their decisions. In my opinion, Angela has proven herself to be a reliable and strong leader, as she demanded banks to forgo 50% of Greece's debt and demonstrates authority at euro meetings. She has a lot of power, as well as a lot of pressure on her right now. I think Germany will remain strong and stable and hopefully lead the other euro nations out of this economic disaster.

The is economic crisis all over the Europe and it is not that Germany is in a good situation, Germany is trying to help out other countries and is taking important decisions about EU. Germany is taking the properother countries and they should follow its decisions. Also it is the job of other countries to help Germany ou that it does not face ms which will turn out to be bad for EU.

Anything that happens to Germany affects the rest of Europe. Since Germany is the richest state in Europe, Angela Merkel is charged with strengthening the EU. It doesn’t matter that the German citizens don’t agree with this; she has no choice. It is pulling her country down, nonetheless. The high rate of pneumonia, although not having a detrimental effect right now, will soon hurt Germany’s – and therefore the rest of the EU and Europe – economy. It will have a greater effect than most people realize.

Since much of Germany’s neighbors are hurting economically, Germany is experiencing a bit of a downfall as well. The article says that half of all of Germany’s GDP comes from exports. If the surrounding countries are not buying as much goods (imports), Germany cannot export as much. The cycle goes around and around. Although the euro crisis is affecting all nations in Europe, what Germany (Angela Merkel) decides to do about it will have the greatest impact. She has a lot on her plate right now, and how she handles it will have a significant impact on the whole of Europe.

Germany´s small and medium sized companies as well as the multi-national enterprises already started to lay off people. Some communities like i.e. Wuppertal are already suffering from recession that they need money from federal government to pay their electricity bills. According to a survey from an economic think tank (IFO) in Munich there will be a massive job lay off in the next weeks. It is expected that GDP will be negative in 2012.

Germany should attempt to stay on its path when dealing with its economy. Clearly whatever the country is doing, it is working. Although the nations around Germany are crumbling, Germany is being affected slowly so that clearly means that Merkel has things under control and she knows how to run the country well. Even if popular support in Germany supports helping other economies by providing money or subsidiaries to those economies, I think that it's a more rational reason to make sure that their own economy is functioning because once Germany goes down, all hell is going to break loose and basically Europe will be devastated.

Smart move of Germany to prepare for tougher times ahead. Perhaps they have taken note of all of other economic superpowers across the world (most notedly USA, and up-and-coming China) that have hit a hard wall when it comes to their economy.

With that said, just because they are preparing while they are still on top doesn't necessarily mean that there won't be any hard times ahead. Germany is currently the backbone for all of Europe's economy, and if the problems with the euro aren't fixed, this will, to go along with my backbone analogy, be the straw that breaks the camel's back.

Germany is doing well in comparison to the other European countries, but they need to continue to focus on recovery. Angela Merkel seems to be looking out for the country and making good decisions regarding the economic situation. Germany has a lot of pressure to improve the economic situation for the entire region... hopefully they do not crack under this stress.

Even though Germany's economy is doing well, it does not mean that it will stay like that forever. The rest of europe is not doing very well which could very easily bring down the economy in Germany. Due to the fact Merkel has tried to help other economies in the eurozone, her people may not re-elect her in the next election because they do not agree with the effects on them from her decisions. Germany is going to have to be smart and careful in the near future in order no to crash like the other countries in the eurozone.

The Economist has demanded a "lender of last resort" like in the States for such a long time. What I really wonder is why The Economist has needed such a long time until now to understand that the "lender of last resort" exists. Prior to the last EU summits, Merkel has pointed out that the ECB is independent and mustn't get demands from politicians. Not all Germans share Stark's or Weber's strict views, and neither Schäuble nor Merkel have complained about the ECB's bond buying program. The reluctance to call the ECB officially "the lender of last resort" seems to simply result from the necessity of its independence, which is seen its most important attribute by most German decision makers. Giving the EFSF a banking license would destroy that independence. But that doesn't mean that the lender doesn't exist.

And lets be honest: If it would have been officially announced "lender of last resort," Berlusconi would still be in office

Totally agree that just because Germany is the top economic leader in Europe, providing bailouts and such, they are not out of trouble themselves, all of Europe is looking dull. Germany is one of the main candidates to save Europeans from the Euro crisis, but people need to know that Germany cannot do it all itself, as Germany needs some saving too. This debt in Europe is becoming a bigger crisis than originally though of, and if everyone thinks that Germany can solve it by itself, some even bigger problems could arise when Germany's economy starts to fail like the rest of its neighboring countries.

The Germans need to look after themselves first before they can attempt to help the rest of the Euro-zone. It's not like they are completely in calm water. It seems pretty obvious that they are doing all they can to remain above the influence of the economic crisis's in the EU. If they focus on bailing out the rest of Europe before they have a solid economic standing it could be a death wish. It is definitely a slippery situation over there right now.

If a country can, it should help its struggling neighbors. I think it would be very beneficial for not only Germany's neighbors but Germany as well to give aid and work with each other. While Germany is on top and we all know that its the super power of that part of Europe, its important to understand that everyone's economy is struggling right now; they're just at the top of a loosing pact. Like many people have already said in their comments, its so important that while doing what they can to help, that Germany doesn't do too much. A balance in aid will be the most beneficial for everyone, especially Germany in terms of exports. I have always respected Angela Merkel and I think she's done a good job in this crisis, especially after helping to rebuild this country. I just hope these so-called stabilization requirements do what they are supposed to do.

The shipments to the EU member countries increased in nominal terms by 13.4% to € 317.3 billion and recorded so that a smaller increase than the total German exports. In the euro zone goods for a total of € 214.7 billion (+ 11.9%) were delivered in the non-euro zone EU countries scoring goods were valued at € 102.6 billion (+16.7%).

In the first half of 2011 within the EU have increased in particular, exports to Eastern Europe, especially in the Baltic States (Estonia + 39.5% + 31.5%, Lithuania, Latvia + 31.0%), but also in Slovakia (+ 28.3%), Poland (+ 21.0%), Czech Republic (+20.3%) and Romania (+18.5%). Deliveries to Greece (- 7.9%) and Portugal (- 2.2%) have declined over the same period, however.

As long as there are thriving economic centres such as the BRIC states, the Gulf states and Russia, I do think Germany will easily live through a major recession of EU states.
After all, wages have been kept under tight control, as German manufacturing/engineering companies felt the Chinese pressure. And secondly, German companies are quite often #1 or #2 in their specialty market (e.g. laser tool machines). If you want to do leading edge engineering, you often have no other option than buying a machine from Germany or Japan, and you simply have to pay the asked price. The EU countries which are now troubled are not the most important destinations for these products, so their possible fall-down should be not too difficult to digest.
We had to worry if China or Brazil were in trouble, though.

Germany is on top right now. Their unemployment is the lowest it has been in 20 years and they can be looked at to offer help to its neighbors. Even though Germany is doing well compared to rest of Europe, they still suffer while on top. Mainly with the fact that their neighbors aren't doing well so they buy less which means fewer exports for Germany. I still believe that Merkel will be reelected. IF the economy is going well, people will be content and reelect.

A) factor in a Reset Of The Financial System in the next ten years. Keep calm and carry on must be the maxim. Do not play Chicken-Little, as Germany did in the 1930s.

B) be prepared to nationalize major industries to preserve them from a financial crash (that of A). Just forget about all the free-enterprise ideology for a while in that situation.

C) accept that the European Dreams are not aligned with our Real Interests; which is international trade with countries such as China, India, Russia, Brazil, Japan, South Africa and to a minor degree other EU countries.
Be realists and don't get hypnotized by all the Euro-rhetoric. Look at the facts and not the imaginations.

D) urgently fix the Baby Deficit. Germany is aging very quickly and we must somehow reduce the use of contraceptives, or face a quite ugly future.